CHRISTMAS is just around the corner and for many families that means yet another huge strain on their already tight finances.
The year has been a tough one with job losses, benefits cuts and a struggling housing market putting many under pressure.
At Christmas time, we all pull out the stops to fill our homes with the gifts and food expected at this time of year. But how easy was it to produce an elaborate feast for our loved ones in years gone by?
Looking back through an edition of the Gazette in December 1982, it's a shock to see very few items for the festive meal are over £1 and stores aren't afraid to share their affordable prices.
That's in stark contrast to today's adverts, with "win ten top toys for Christmas" in among the "cash paid for old gold" screamers giving a very real taste of the world we're living in.
Any food stores daring to share their prices in print back them up with offers of "free veg" or "buy one get one free".
A half-page advert from Budgens, in Ingatestone and Doddinghurst, today tells of its 1.75kg British chicken slashed from £6.99 to £4.50. Back in 1982, Asda was offering an oven-ready frozen turkey for 59.5p per pound.
Going even further back to 1932, when posties earned just £2 a week, geese were for sale for the equivalent of 20p, fat hens 12.5p and newly laid eggs 11p for a dozen.
Hepburns family butchers was opened in Shenfield and Mountnessing in 1932 by George and Ethel Hepburn.
Three generations later and the long-held traditions of providing "real food" without unnatural growth promoters are still followed.
But today, customers can place their orders online for meats including beef and poultry as well as convenient pies and ready meals to suit today's hectic lifestyles.
Duncan Hepburn, George and Ethel's grandson, said today's families want more convenience and time-saving products so they can spend more time with their families.
He said: "Back in the 1930s, when we opened, the husband tended to be the bread-winner while the wife spent a lot of time peeling potatoes and carrots by hand, preparing the Christmas meal.
"Nowadays, both parties tend to go to work so I would imagine the wife is less keen to spend all day peeling spuds. Celebrity chefs such as Jamie Oliver have also inspired more men to take an interest in cooking the Christmas meal.
"Christmas is about spending quality time with our loved ones and so many people are looking for convenience now; they want pre-prepared or simpler products which make the process easier. Our boneless turkeys are far more popular as they are quicker to cook and easier to carve."
With the ultimate convenience being to shop online, Hepburns made the decision to join the major supermarkets in offering this service.
Mr Hepburn said: "With our bespoke products, our customers do tend to want to come in and shop personally. But we have to offer the online facility as everyone is using these apps and shopping from their sofas. If you don't compete, you go into oblivion. This keeps us in the market place."
The shop has managed to hold its prices for three years, responding to the struggle its customers may be facing financially.
Family-run Calcott Hall Farm opened in Ongar Road, Brentwood, in 1974, expanding into a renovated barn in 1983 as demands grew for its wide range of fruits and vegetables. More changes came about in 2009 when they added a butcher counter to the farm shop.
Director Peter McTurk, who runs the farm with his parents and brother, said although the business continues to expand and move with the times, they work hard to keep the traditional personal shopping experience alive.
He said: "Each time we have expanded and diversified, it has been in response to customers wanting to buy more and more products locally.
"While house prices have leapt about 20-fold since the 1970s, our prices have only doubled. In 1976, carrots were 12p per pound. Today they are 32p per pound.
"We are looking at the potential of an online shop, but we pride ourselves on offering a pleasant shopping experience. Food shopping at the supermarket can be a chore, but here our customers enjoy seeing our butcher doing his trade. They can discuss their requirements and have their meat – or cheese – prepared exactly how they need it. That's how it was before supermarkets came to the fore; until then it was individual shop counters and shopkeepers knew their customers by name.
"Supermarkets do a brilliant job, but nipping in and out to do a quick shop isn't what you always want."
